Manifold valve

ABSTRACT

A manifold gas valve including a partition wall having main gas and pilot gas passageways therein, a slidable control valve having a gas flow passageway therethrough and biased against said wall, and pushbuttons arranged and operably connected to the control valve so as to respectively move the control valve to one of its &#39;&#39;&#39;&#39;pilot,&#39;&#39;&#39;&#39; &#39;&#39;&#39;&#39;on&#39;&#39;&#39;&#39; and &#39;&#39;&#39;&#39;off&#39;&#39;&#39;&#39; positions and simultaneously move the other pushbuttons to their retracted positions. The manifold valve also includes a biased closed safety valve, condition responsive means for holding the safety valve open, and a separable coupling between the condition responsive means and the safety valve. The safety valve is arranged to be actuated by the pushbutton for moving the control valve to its &#39;&#39;&#39;&#39;pilot&#39;&#39;&#39;&#39; position while the separable coupling between the safety valve and the condition responsive means is arranged to be actuated upon movement of the control valve to its &#39;&#39;&#39;&#39;off&#39;&#39;&#39;&#39; position.

United States Patent [72] Inventor Raymond P. Flagg Golden Valley, Minn. [21] Appl. No. 43,869 [22] Filed June 5, 1970 [45] Patented Oct. 5, 1971 [73] Assignee Honeywell Inc.

Minneapolis, Minn.

[54] MANIFOLD VALVE 6 Claims, 7 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. Cl 137/66, 137/637, 431/54 [51] Int. Cl F23n 5/10 [50] Field ofSearch. 431/51-55, 80, 84; 137/65, 66, 637

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,718,918 9/1955 Marvin l37/66X 3,245,618 4/1966 Vollprecht et al. 431/54 X 3,303,866 2/1967 Ray 431/54 FOREIGN PATENTS 614,923 2/1961 Canada 137/66 566,154 8/1957 ltaly 137/66 Primary ExaminerM. Cary Nelson Assistant Examiner-Richard Gerard Attorneys-Lamont B. Koontz and Alan M. Staubly ABSTRACT: A manifold gas valve including a partition wall having main gas and pilot gas passageways therein, a slidable control valve having a gas flow passageway therethrough and biased against said wall, and pushbuttons arranged and operably connected to the control valve so as to respectively move the control valve to one of its pilot," on and off positions and simultaneously move the other pushbuttons to their retracted positions. The manifold valve also includes a biased closed safety valve, condition responsive means for holding the safety valve open, and a separable coupling between the condition responsive means and the safety valve. The safety valve is arranged to be actuated by the pushbutton for moving the control valve to its pilot" position while the separable coupling between the safety valve and the condition responsive means is arranged to be actuated upon movement ofthe control valve to its off position.

MANIFOLD VALVE This application relates to manifold valves, and more particularly to a manifold gas valve embodying a pushbutton operated control valve in combination with a safety valve adapted to be controlled by a pilot burner flame sensing power unit. Valves of this broad, general type are well known in the art, with the exception that'no known art discloses such a valve with a pushbutton mechanism for actuating a slidable control valve to provide manual control of the gas. The prior art arrangement of slidable valves have been of the rotary cock type which are not adapted to be operated readily by means of pushbuttons. The novelty in the invention disclosed herein lies in combining a sliding type of valve closure in cooperation with a thermocouple controlled safety valve in such a manner that the slidable valve may be actuated by pushbuttons to move the control valve between off, pilot and on" positions and to simultaneously move the safety valve to its open position when one of the pushbuttons moves the slidable valve to its pilot position. Another feature of the invention lies in the provision of means for detachably connecting the safety valve to the thermoelectric power unit and to permit disconnection therebetween upon movement of the slidable valve to its off position. The arrangement is such as to prevent subsequent moving of the safety valve to its open position unless the power unit has previously become deenergized.

FIG. 1 of the drawing is a schematic showing of the invention wherein the elements thereof are in the off position of the slidalble valve, and the electromagnet is deenergized;

FIG. 1a is an enlarged fragmentary view of the slidable valve and the separable connection between the safety valve and the thermoelectric power unit when the elements are in the position shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1 but showing the elements of the invention in the positions they assume when the control valve is in its pilot position;

FIG. 2a is an enlarged view similar to FIG. la, but wherein the elements are in the position they assume in the pilot position of the control valve;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIGS. 1 and 2, but wherein the elements are in the positions they assume when the control valve is in its on position;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to the other figures in the drawing wherein the elements are in the positions they assume when the control valve has been moved to the off" position while the electromagnet is still energized;

FIG. 4a is an enlarged view similar to FIGS. 1a and 24, but wherein the separable connection is in the position shown in FIG. 4.

Referring to the drawing, the manifold valve, generally designated by reference numeral 11, consists of an upper housing 12 suitably mounted on a lower housing 13, with a sealing gasket 14 therebetween. The housing 13 has an inlet 15, a partition wall 16 and an outlet 17 therein. The housing 12 has an opening 18 in a partition wall 19, and has a second partition wall 20. A passageway 21 through the wall 20, communicates with a second opening 22 through the partition wall 19 to establish communication or gas flow form the inlet to the main outlet 17, which is adapted to be connected to a main burner. The partition wall also has a smaller passageway 23 therein which leads to an outlet 24 in the housing 12, which outlet is adapted to be connected to a pilot burner. A platetype of slidable valve 25, of the so-called gate type, has an opening 26 therethrough which is adapted to register with the adjacent end of the passageway 21 when the valve is in its "open position (see FIG. 3), is adapted to register with the pilot outlet 23 only when in the pilot" position (see FIG. 2), and is adapted to close both passageways 23 and 21 when in the off position thereof (see FIGS. 1 and 4). A groove 27 is formed in the inner surface of the valve to establish communication between the opening 26 and the passageway 23 when the valve 25 is in its on" position (see FIG. 3). The plate valve is guided in its movement by means of leaf springs 28 and 29, which are riveted or spot welded to the wall 20 and have offset portions 28a that overlie the valve 25. The leaf springs have inwardly struck beads or projections 28a that engage and resiliently bias valve 25 against the wall 20. The leaf spring 29 is slightly different from the springs 28 in that it has a longer arm 29a to position the bead 29b more nearly in the longitudinal center of the plate than it would if a leaf spring similar to 28 were used. This construction is to provide clearance for an abutment arm 25a on the valve 25 when it moves to the position shown in FIG. 3.

The mechanism for actuating the plate or gate valve consists of three pushbuttons carrying the indicia ON," OFF" and PILOT, respectively. The pilot pushbutton has a stem 30 extending through a hole in the upper wall of the housing 12 and carries, at its lower end, a head 30a to serve as an abutment. Stem 30 is connected by a cable 31, extending over a pulley 32 mounted on the wall 20, to the upper end of the valve 25 at 33, by any suitable means. The off pushbutton has a stem 34 that, likewise, extends through a hole in the upper wall of the housing 12, and is directly connected to the valve 25 at 35, by any suitable means. The on" button has a stem 36 which, likewise, extends through a hole in the upper wall and is connected to a cable 37 which passes over a pulley 38 and is similarly connected to the valve 25 at 39. The cables 31 and 37 are so dimensioned that when the pilot" pushbutton is depressed, the on" and off buttons assume the positions shown in FIG. 2, and when the on button is depressed the off and pilot" pushbuttons assume the positions shown in FIG. 3. It will be noted that when the valve is in the condition shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 4, the pushbuttons are in the same positions. It will also be noted that there is slack in the cable 31 when the valve is in the condition shown in FIG. 3 due to the fact that the abutment 25a on the gate valve has lified the stem 30 by acting through the abutment 300. It will also be noted that there is slack in the cable 37 when the pilot" pushbutton has been depressed, as shown in FIG. 2, due to the fact that the gate valve 25 has been lifted sufiiciently high to register the opening 26 with the inner end of passageway 23.

As shown in FIG. 1, a conventional thermocouple energizable electromagnet 40 is mounted in a portion of the housing 12 in a conventional manner and has its armature stem 40a swivelly connected to one end of a lever 41. Spring 40b normally biases the lever 41 in a clockwise direction about a pivot 42 suitably mounted in the housing 12. The other end of the lever 41 has a separable coupling member or leaf spring 43 riveted or otherwise secured thereto at 44 and has an upwardly extending arm 410 that is adapted to be engaged by the head 30a of the pilot stem 30. As shown in FIG. 1a, the leaf spring 43 has a transversely extending portion 43a which, in turn, has a short extension or finger 43b and a spaced longer extension or finger 430. The end of the finger 43c is beveled for engagement by a beveled surface 25b at the lower corner of plate valve 25.

The opening 18 in wall 19 is adapted to be closed by a safety valve 44 which is pivotally carried by a lever 45, which is also rockably mounted on the pivot 42 for the lever 41. As shown in FIG. 2a, the lever 45 has an am 450 extending therefrom which, in turn, has an arm 45b extending generally parallel with the lever 45 and between the fingers 43b and 430 of the leaf spring on lever 41, when the elements of the valve are in the position shown in FIGS. 2 and 2a. It will be noted that in FIG. 1a, the plate valve 25 has been lowered to a position which has resulted in the bevel 25b having engaged the bevel 43d and the end of the projection 43c and having cammed the projection 43b from above the arm 4517. It will be noted in FIG. 4a that not only has the arm 43b been cammed from a position over the arm 4511 but also that it lies in a position that, should the valve 25 be raised by depressing the pilot" pushbutton, the end of the projection 43b would strike the side of the arm 45b. Therefore, further downward movement of the stem 30 would not cause the lever 45b to be moved downwardly with the leaf spring to open the safety valve. The lever 45 is normally biased in a clockwise direction to close the safety valve 44 by means of a tension spring 46 so that when the leaf spring finger 43b is disengaged from the lever 45b the spring will close the safety valve regardless of whether or not the electromagnet is deenergized. it is also obvious that should the pilot burner become extinguished and the electromagnet 40 become deenergized, the spring 40b of the electromagnet 40 become deenergized, the spring 40b of the electromagnet will cause both levers to rotate clockwise to close the safety valve.

Assuming that the manifold valve described above is connected to a furnace, with the inlet connected to a source of gas, the outlet 24 connected to a pilot burner and the outlet 17 connected to a main burner, in the absence of a pilot burner flame, the valve elements would be in the condition shown in FIG. 1. The furnace may be started from this condition by depressing the "pilot pushbutton. The first part of stem 30 movement will lower the lead 30a on the stem to engage the upper end of arm 41a just after the cable 31 has lifted the valve 25 a suflicient distance to position the lower end thereof above the arm 43c of the leaf spring, causing positioning of the finger 43b over the arm 45b. Further movement of the pilot" pushbutton and stem causes pivoting of the levers 41 and 45 to open the safety valve 44 and the positioning of the opening 26 in the valve 25 over the opening 23 to the pilot outlet, as shown in FIG. 2. The pilot burner may then be ignited and, after sufficient time has elapsed to energize the magnet 40, the on" pushbutton may be depressed to cause the lifting of the valve 25 to the position shown in FIG. 3, to supply gas to both the pilot burner and the main burner, the safety valve remaining open due to the fact that the armature is held by the electromagnet against the bias of spring 40b. It will also be noted that the depression of the on pushbutton causes the projection or abutment 250 on the valve 25 to lift the "pilot" button to its raised position. The pushbuttons positions serve as an indication of the condition of operation of the manifold valve. The furnace will stay in operation so long as the pilot flame is present. Should it be decided that the furnace should be placed in summer shutdown condition, wherein only pilot gas will flow, by pressing the pilot button, the valve 25 would be lowered to the position shown in FIG. 2. Complete shutoff of gas could be obtained by pressing the off button, whereby valve 25 would be lowered to the position shown in FIG. 4. Upon deenergization of the magnet 40, following sufficient cooling of the thermocouple, the elements switch from the position of F IG. 4 to the starting position of FIG. 1. Should an attempt be made to turn the gas on again immediately following the elements assuming the position shown in FIG. 4, it would be impossible to open the safety valve due to the disengagement of the finger 43b from the arm 45b.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or right is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A manifold valve comprising:

housing means having an inlet, a main outlet, a second outlet and a partition wall between said inlet and said outlets; a main passageway in said wall and extending to said main outlet;

a second passageway in said wall and extending to said second outlet;

a control valve having an opening therein and positioned against a surface of said wall and being slidable between an off position, wherein both of said passageways are covered, a pilot position, wherein the main passageway only is covered, and an on" position, wherein neither of said passageways is covered; means for guiding said control valve on and biasing it against said wall surface;

a safety valve located in said housing means between said inlet and said control valve and movable between open and closed positions;

means responsive to the presence of a pilot burner flame for holding said safety valve in its open position and, when there is not pilot burner flame, for closing said safety valve; a first pushbutton means for moving said control valve from its off position to its pilot" position and said safety valve to its open position; and

second pushbutton means for moving said control valve to its on position.

2. A manifold valve as defined in claim 1 wherein said first pushbutton means is operably connected to said safety valve by a separable coupling means and a third pushbutton means is operably connected to said control valve for moving said control valve to its ofF position.

3. A manifold valve as defined in claim 2 wherein said coupling means comprises a pair of levers with a deflectable latch means therebetween.

4. A manifold valve as defined in claim 3 wherein said latch means is a leaf spring having two spaced fingers, one for latching the two levers together and the other for operation by the third pushbutton means.

5. A manifold valve as defined in claim 1 and including a first lever pivoted on said housing means and operably connected to said safety valve;

a second lever pivoted on said housing means and operably connected to said pilot flame responsive means; means for detachably connecting said levers together; third pushbutton means operably connected to said control valve for moving it to its off position and for actuating said connecting means to disconnect said levers; and

means for normally biasing said safety valve to its closed position.

6. A manifold valve as defined in claim 5 wherein said detachable connecting means between said levers is a leaf spring secured to one of said levers and having a transversely deflectable finger thereon for connecting said levers together for operation as a unit by said first pushbutton means. 

1. A manifold valve comprising: housing means having an inlet, a main outlet, a second outlet and a partition wall between said inlet and said outlets; a main passageway in said wall and extending to said main outlet; a second passageway in said wall and extending to said second outlet; a control valve having an opening therein and positioned against a surface of said wall and being slidable between an ''''off'''' position, wherein both of said passageways are covered, a ''''pilot'''' position, wherein the main passageway only is covered, and an ''''on'''' position, wherein neither of said passageways is covered; means for guiding said control valve on and biasing it against said wall surface; a safety valve located in said housing means between said inlet and said control valve and movable between open and closed positions; means responsive to the presence of a pilot burner flame for holding said safety valve in its open position and, when there is not pilot burner flame, for closing said safety valve; a first pushbutton means for moving said control valve from its ''''off'''' position to its ''''pilot'''' position and said safety valve to its open position; and second pushbutton means for moving said control valve to its ''''on'''' position.
 2. A manifold valve as defined in claim 1 wherein said first pushbutton means is operably connected to said safety valve by a separable coupling means and a third pushbutton means is operably connected to said control valve for moving said control valve to its ''''off'''' position.
 3. A manifold valve as defined in claim 2 wherein said coupling means comprises a pair of levers with a deflectable latch means therebetween.
 4. A manifold valve as defined in claim 3 wherein said latch means is a leaf spring having two spaced fingers, one for latching the two levers together and the other for operation by the third pushbutton means.
 5. A manifold valve as defined in claim 1 and including a first lever pivoted on said housing means and operably connected to said safety valve; a second lever pivoted on said housing means and operably connected to said pilot flame responsive means; means for detachably connecting said levers together; third pushbutton means operably conNected to said control valve for moving it to its ''''off'''' position and for actuating said connecting means to disconnect said levers; and means for normally biasing said safety valve to its closed position.
 6. A manifold valve as defined in claim 5 wherein said detachable connecting means between said levers is a leaf spring secured to one of said levers and having a transversely deflectable finger thereon for connecting said levers together for operation as a unit by said first pushbutton means. 